Furtech Talon Jacket - First
Look
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Price: £180 /
current offer price £119.95
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Weight: 680 grammes
(medium)
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Features:
Waterproof jacket using directional polyester fabrics,
helmet-compatible Sight'n'Sound roll-away hood, twin
pit-zips, Hand Protector sleeves, Snow Seal hem (crotch
strap arrangement), anti-microbial lining, one key-clip
loop.
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What's It For?
FurTech is a small UK outfit set up by Andy Davison, who in one of
his previous incarnations worked for Paramo. In essence Furtech
clothing works in the same way as Paramo, though it doesn't use
Nikwax Analogy fabric.
The Talon is one of two jackets made by the company and is a
shorter cut, simple, close-fitting climbing jacket aimed primarily at
technical users who may find Paramo kit a little loose.
There are also some cunning little technical features and gizmos
that you may or may not like. Also available is the four-pocket Claw
which is 8cm longer than the Talon at the front and 4cm shorter at
the back and is probably better specced for all-round mountain use.
The Techy Bits
If you want a full explanation of FurTech, then the company's web
site is packed full of information, but in essence, it's very like
Paramo in that an outer, water repellant and windproof shell is
backed up with an outward facing, inner fur lining, which moves water
outwards away from the body.
As with Paramo, the result is a soft-handled fabric with excellent
breathability and moisture managment capabilities, however the liner
is 50 per-cent thicker than Paramo, making the garments warmer.
Silver-impregnated lining fabric is claimed to reduce the pong
factor.
FurTech suggests that temperature control is best accomplished
using different weights of base-layer according to the
conditions.
So far so good, but Andy's kit also incorporates some design
touches of his own. So, for example, the Sight'n'Sound hood, has a
peak made from a transparent plastic that 's intended to allow you to
look upwards through it. The cord-grips at the front of the jacket
can also be used to fashion the shock cord into an impomptu, but
rather thin, crotch strap and the long cuff tabs can also be used to
convert the hand openings into improvised thumb loops.
The picture below, is a Claw, which has two more pockets than the
Talon and is cut longer, but otherwise shares its technical features.
There's also a pair of matching trousers available soon.
For more info on the various technical features, see this
page.
How It Performs
Clothing like this seems to arouse strong emotions in people -
some love the excellent moisture control, soft feel of the fabric and
easy repairability, other find the thick, wicking liner makes the
system too warm for any conditions bar full-on winter.
All those things are true of FurTech and, because the liner is 50
per-cent heavier than the current Paramo one, it's also warmer. Too
warm for us over the summer months at least.
So what makes it different? Primarily it's the closer,
slimmer-fitting cut which is intended to make neater fitting clothing
that's also lighter than a looser garment made from the same fabric.
The other major point of difference, is that Furtech jackets have big
pit-zips for additional ventilation when you do get warm.
Anyway, as you'd expect, the actual fabric performance feels very
familiar from using Paramo kit. That's to say, it's on the warm side
- think an extra base-layer's worth of insulation - but the extra
ventilation options do help to cool you down, unlike Paramo's
vestigial sleeve vents which in our experience have little
effect.
Yes, it's waterproof, unless you choose to sit or lean against
something wet, when pressure will force fluid through the fabric and
yes, it manages moisture pretty well with no condensation issues. And
it does have a nice, soft feel.
The extra details are interesting, but sometimes a bit clunky in
execution and a little quirky. The hood's generally very capable,
moves with your head, adjusts easily and handles a helmet too. The
transparent peak we could take or leave. It does reduce the gloom
when everything's battened down, but it also looks slightly weird.
We do quite like the way the three-stud, fold-down arrangement
which allows the hood to form a high, soft, protective collar.
We also ended up quite liking the drawcord arrangement at the hem
which allows you to fashion the shockcords into a crotch strap. Looks
painful, but isn't and helps hold the jacket down when climbing or in
deep snow. If you are climbing, you'd be best advised to use it
anyway as otherwise the shock cord ends are hanging just in the wrong
place to tangle with a belay or abseil device.
For general use, we'd probably opt for the longer-cut Claw version
of the jacket with its extra pockets, the Talon's cut quite short,
which is great when worn with a harness or if you're on the stumpy
side yourself, but is obviously less protective when the going gets
gnarly.
We're not going to tell you whether you should or shouldn't
like this type of fabric system, but there's no doubt that the
combination of weather protection, breathability and moisture
management makes it a very effective option in cooler conditions.
If you run on the warm side though, it can get a little hot,
though the subtantial pit-zips do help with that. It's a shame the
cuffs and forearms aren't a little looser though, we found them hard
to roll up.
What you do get with FurTech is a closer, neater cut, big pit-zip
vents and a decent hood. And that crotch strap thing, that despite
ourselves, we actually came to quite like. It's not going to win any
awards for lightness or packability, but it's not outrageously heavy
either, given the extra insulation value.
So in short, we'd say like Paramo, but closer cut, better vented,
slightly warmer and with some quirky features.
And one last thing - at the moment both the Claw and the Talon are
killer value with a third off on the FurTech web site.
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Great moisture management, comfort, venting, some
interesting features.
Slightly rough around the edges, quite warm, relatively
heavy.
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Know more or want to?
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product check out our user review system and post your opinions to
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